The Call
by PM Addict
Summary: Peeta makes one bad decision one night…loosely based on the Backstreet Boys song "The Call". Written for Prompts in Panem Round 3: Day 7


He sits by the window looking at the rain. _How cheesy_. He thought. The worse day of his life and he feels as gloomy as the weather. He couldn't even cry anymore, his tears refused to fall. All he could think about was the extreme loneliness that surrounded him.

She was gone.

When he got home from work earlier he found that she had moved out. Drawers, shelves and closets were as empty as his heart felt. She hadn't even left a note, only her house key. How could someone so otherwise disorganized pack up and disappear in a matter of hours? She took all her personal belongings, leaving behind everything they ever shared, as well as all the pictures of the two of them together, that were scattered around their apartment.

He didn't know where to look. Her phone says it's out of service. She wasn't at her sister's and her friends would not talk to him. He had no one to blame but himself. He was the cause for losing his happiness. His thoughts keep going back to Friday night, when he lost his head and everything went wrong.

_It's Friday_ is all Peeta could think about. The week had been brutal and extremely tiresome. He needed the break and all he could think about was spending all day Saturday in bed with Katniss, getting lost in her, forgetting the whole world.

As he was gathering his things, absolutely ready to call it a week, he felt his phone vibrate in his left pocket. Finnick was getting the guys together for an impromptu guy's night out. Peeta's mind was trying to come up with a viable excuse to bow out of hanging with the guys tonight but Finn wouldn't let him get a word in edge wise. He'd just recently broken up with his fiancée of two years, Annie and wasn't dealing with the situation finding himself more drunk than sober most of his free time. Annie had learned about several of Finnick's indiscretions and threw her engagement ring in his face, packed her bags and moved to Paris with an aunt of hers. Finnick was Peeta's oldest friend besides Katniss and the guilt of leaving his best friend to wallow in self-pity alone was more than he could bear. Except that Finnick had a very subtle way of making Peeta feel guilty about being happy with Katniss while he was all alone.

_Fine._ Was all Peeta could reply. After all, he still had all day Saturday to make it up to Katniss.

They stood outside the new club **The Capitol**, waiting in line to be admitted. The crowd was always full of college kids with brand new ID's and no responsibilities or rich heirs with enough influence and money to buy their way out of any uncomfortable situation. Although it was only a few months old, this club already had a notorious reputation of being the place where anything and everything would be allowed to happen since authorities turned a blind eye to the rumors. The owner was Victor's Village very own untouchable mayor, Coriolanus Snow, who just so happened to be the proprietor of half the town. Peeta hated coming to these types of places, but he'd had no say in the matter. He'd suggested going to the pub around the corner from Finn's building, have some beers and shoot some pool (and maybe get home to his girlfriend a little earlier), but Finn wasn't having it. As they waited for the rest of the gang to arrive at Finn's apartment, he told Peeta of the phone call he'd made to Annie earlier in the day, to no avail since she begged him to never call her again. She was ready to move on and meet new people. By the time Peeta arrived, Finn was several drinks in, upset and obnoxious and his desperation to flee from his pain was palpable. Peeta tried to convince himself to try and be supportive of his friend by helping him have a good time

He stood off to the side of the line and dialed Katniss' number once again. He'd been trying for a couple of hours now and didn't like leaving voice mails. He wanted to hear her voice. No answer. Should he be worried? Maybe this was reason enough to leave this outing and finally go home. The guys called out to him, they were finally being led in. He approached his friend with his cell still in his hand and tried to explain his concern for his girlfriend. Finnick guffawed and called him a pussy, running after her like a sick puppy and admonishing him for not leaving a freaking message already. He yanked the phone out of Peeta's hand and started scrolling down the contacts looking for Katniss' number. He was about to talk into the voice mail when Peeta took his phone back leaving the message for himself:

_Listen Baby I'm sorry…Just wanna tell you don't worry, I will be late don't stay up and wait for me. My battery is low so you know we're goin' to a place nearby-I gotta go._

Peeta really wanted to say _I love you_ and express how much he wished he was with her instead but he was within earshot and the guys were already laughing. He wasn't having a good time and was getting annoyed with his friends. One beer and he'd leave he promised himself. The other guys can look after Finn.

Three beers and 4 tequila shots later, Peeta felt he had his fill. He couldn't think straight. He wasn't drunk, it took a whole lot more than that to get him wasted and yet his mind seemed to drift. He had to stop himself from grinding the girl he was dancing with. How long had this been happening? He was dancing with a stranger? He knew he was supposed to leave earlier after he'd finished his first beer but Finnick practically forced him to have one more by playing the lonely friend card and reminiscing on how _nice_ it was to have someone waiting for him and then he cried. Peeta had felt manipulated and agreed to one more beer excusing himself to the bathroom first. Everything after drinking _that_ beer that Finnick had waiting for him, seemed like a blur. There was a girl he stopped from going into the men's room that didn't seem to want to let go of his arm. She wore her long dark hair in a single braid over her right shoulder just like Katniss. But her eyes were dark, she wasn't Katniss. Or was she?

Peeta needed to go home now and hold her, feel her. Very slowly remind her over and over how much he loves her and worships her very essence. He felt something within him start to stir as he imagined her holding on to him, calling out his name in reverence, yelling out to the world how much she loved him as well. At that moment he remembered he hadn't spoken to her since before lunch, and she hadn't answered her phone. Was she alright? What if something happened to her while he was out? He felt panic rise up within. Peeta threw several bills on the table and announced his departure hugging each of his friends. Odd, he wasn't exactly very touchy feely with his male friends. At that moment he turned and saw the dark braid disappear into the dance floor once more.

_Katniss._

_Katniss._

_Katniss are you O.K.? _

_Why weren't you answering your phone?_

He ran after her consumed with extreme anxiety to be sure she was safe. Why was she here? How did she find him? Why was she running from him? Did it really matter? No, and now they could leave together and begin their own private party. He caught up to her and grabbed her hips burying his face in her neck winding his arms around her.

_I'm so happy to see you, to know you're safe._

He closed his eyes as she turned around and kissed him, deeply and desperately. She was in as much need as he was. They might not make it home, he thought. He pressed her against him, forgetting they were in a public. She couldn't get close enough. Swaying to the beat, he took a strong grip on her thighs and pulled her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He doesn't know if it was the very loud music or the people all around them cheering them on. He was lost in Katniss.

_Let's get out of here_. He said in a very low husky voice. She could feel his urgency pressed against her inner thigh.

_I gotta a little place nearby_. She answered. What an odd thing for her to say. They live across town.

Several hours later, feeling very dehydrated and utterly confused amidst memories of interlacing limbs and articles of clothing being torn apart Peeta wakes up lying over soft and tender breasts his hand tangled in long dark tresses. There is a long pale leg wrapped around his waist. Once he can focus he doesn't recognize his surroundings, this isn't his bedroom. He very slowly lifts his head hoping not to wake the female lying beneath him and notices a vine tattoo beneath the left breast. His eyes widen in shock and turns to look at his companions face. Soft features on a round pale face, thin lips, dark eye makeup and a tiny nose ring.

Shit!

This isn't Katniss.

What happened?

What has he done?

His mind is trying to process how he got here as his eyes widen in horror. He tries to extract himself from the arms of his companion without waking her and his left elbow slips on something cold and gel-like. He'd squeezed a tube of lubricant. As he's rounding up his clothing and looking for his shoes he finds three used condoms thrown about. Tears well up in his eyes, disgusted and disappointed with himself and all he can think is that this isn't Katniss.

When he gets home, he finds Katniss asleep on the couch. He stares at her face and the slight frown between her eyebrows.

_Is she having a bad dream?_ He wonders.

There is no peace in her state of sleep and he knows it's because of him. He feels his heart constrict as if something was squeezing the life out of it. There is a cold cup of tea on the coffee table along with the house phone and her cell phone connected to its charger. He took a blanket out of the linen closet and covered her with it without making a sound. He found messages from Finnick wondering if he'd gotten home alright (his phone was dead) after having left the club so abrubtly. Not that Peeta was planning on keeping anything from Katniss, but his best friend threw him under the bus!

He silently made his way into the shower and while he stood under the scalding water, flashes of a cab ride from last night began to swirl in his head. There were images of pretty brown eyes and a sheer, low cut blouse covering ample breasts in which he buried his face while his hand lost itself up under a tiny leather mini skirt and inside her panties. He remembered her moaning loudly as he made her come with his fingers while his teeth pulled and tugged at the nipple from the breast he had pulled out of a black lacy bra. They were still in the cab and did not care that the driver could hear them. He offered a very generous tip. By the time they reached her door, he'd already torn off her blouse.

No matter how hard he scrubbed, he couldn't wash away what he had done. And he sobbed and sobbed.

Now he looks out into the rain and wonders how one night could change a life so much. The love of his life, practically the only girl he's ever really loved since he was five, was gone. Katniss hadn't screamed and yelled. She just sat there, stoically while the tears rolled down her cheeks. After she had said her piece she did not say another word to him. She just sat there, for hours she sat there looking at nothing, while he looked at her. He apologized till his throat was raw. He cried and screamed and tried to touch her but felt soiled and unclean and there she was, perfect and pure. He didn't deserve her.

_I don't know what happened._

What a stupid thing to say. Of course she doesn't believe him. He doesn't believe himself! How can he touch someone else, spend the night with another and not know what is happening or who it's with.

_I thought she was you_.

What a ludicrous thought. She laughed, deep and strong. It was as if she had just heard the most hilarious thing imaginable. It must have been. She didn't believe it was the truth, but it was _his_ truth. Even he can't understand why to him, the other s_eemed_ liked Katniss_, smelled_ like Katniss, _loved_ like Katniss. She _wasn't_ Katniss. Every time he looked into the girls dark eyes, he felt as if that little voice in the back of his mind was trying to awaken from its groggy state, and warn him.

Saturday turned into Sunday and they remained the same. She didn't move and he didn't tear his eyes away from her.

_If I could take it back, I would._

Standing in their lonely apartment he well knows he can't take it back. Should he give her a few days to cool off? Would he be able to forgive her if this had been the other way around? His head hurts, yet he can't pinpoint the exact location of the throbbing pain. Is it in his brain or his heart? He's tired of raking his brain for memories that elude him.

What happened that night in that club?

Peeta didn't know that while he was in the men's room, Finnick decided his friend needed a little something to help him loosen up and spiked his beer, even though he'd already very generously tipped the bartender into serving Peeta extra "special" drinks, determined to not let his best friend go home early that night. Finnick didn't know that Peeta was then having hallucinations about Katniss. Peeta didn't know that Katniss had been stuck in the elevator at work for two hours without reception and had no way of communicating with him. Does it all matter in the end?

Sleep would be a nice escape but every time he closes his eyes, he is haunted by the same nightmare of a heartbroken Katniss returning his bleeding heart to him and just as he's about to run after her and give it back, a dark haired girl with long fangs and a face that is not Katniss' runs up and bites it off his hands only to spit it out at Finnick's feet.


End file.
